|
Man of Steel
| Released |
14 June 2013 |
| Director |
Zack Snyder |
Starring
|
Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishbourne, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Christopher Meloni, Russell Crowe |
| Writer(s) |
David S. Goyer |
Producer(s)
|
Charles Roven, Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas, Deborah Snyder |
Origin
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United States, Canada, United Kingdom |
| Running Time |
143 minutes |
| Genre |
Action, adventure, fantasy |
| Rating |
12A |
|
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Superman Returns (Again).
When you think about it, it was a bit of a weird decision to put the director of Watchmen in charge of a reboot of Superman. After all the two comic book properties are polar opposites in terms of world view – Watchmen (the graphic novel) is a nihilistic, gritty exploration of the dark side of the idea of superheroes, while on the other hand Superman is the prototypical superhero – a clean, pure honest embodiment of truth, justice and the American way. But while Zach Snyder badly mishandled his adaptation of Watchmen (possibly because he just didn’t get it), his understanding of Superman rings true in Man of Steel.
Man of Steel does the particularly difficult task of diving into the idea of Superman as a character, exploring what makes him tick and, more importantly, manages to build an interesting, multi-faceted story around a fairly one-dimensional character.
What really makes Man of Steel work is the fact that it dives head first into the realm of sci-fi epic. It is after all the tale of the last survivor of a distant planet whose alien origins grants him superpowers when he arrives on earth. By embracing this aspect of the character Snyder acknowledges that his origin story won’t just be a jumping off point for a new series of films. Instead it uses the origin of Superman to explore the nature of the character in a way that hasn’t been done on the big screen before.
In keeping with this sci-fi tone, the first half an hour or so takes place during the last days of Krypton, with eminent scientist Jor-El (Russell Crowe) deciding to send his only son Kal-El to a distant planet to secure his survival. This is complicated by renegade General Zod (Michael Shannon), who stages a military coup in his own attempt to save the planet. Man of Steel does particularly well at establishing a villain who is clearly a hero in his own mind – and Shannon does a wonderful job of fleshing out this multifaceted character.
Despite a great setup, Man of Steel does get a bit bogged down during its middle section. Now a grown man, Clark Kent is struggling to exist as an outsider, despite the best intentions of his adoptive Earth parents (Diane Lane and Kevin Costner). A series of awkward flashbacks packed with heavily expeditionary dialogue slow the film down significantly. Here Man of Steel seems to bite off a bit more than it can chew, and hints at a wide range of philosophical and religious implications of Superman as a character without fully developing any of them. Another major problem is the fact that both father figures are Oscar winning leading actors in their own right, and Crowe and Costner’s screen presence frequently undercut one another. The result is that neither of them succeed in making their characters as impactful as they should be.
But Man of Steel finds its way once again as it moves into its final act. Zod arrives on earth, intent on building a new Krypton. Unfortunately the human race is in his way, and need to be exterminated. Because we’ve seen him lose his planet, we understand his motivation. This makes it all the more bizarre that the script calls for Zod to flat out explain his motivation to Superman during their final confrontation. Man of Steel may have some great story beats, but it completely lacks any form of subtlety.
Despite the fact that Man of Steel frequently delivers its subtext in ten foot high neon lettering, it also succeeds in delivering a highly enjoyable thrill ride that more than justifies the decision to reboot the Superman franchise. It succeeds in the tired genre of superhero films by attempting to be something more than a superhero film. This isn’t an origin story about an ordinary person granted special powers and putting on a mask – this is a story about a chosen one taking off the mask of an ordinary person and becoming something more. And that’s just what a Superman film should be.
- Bernard O’Rourke |
